Jenna Ortega says the fuss over her 'Wednesday' dance is 'disorientating': 'I was hoping people wouldn’t pay so much attention to that part'
Ahead of hosting Saturday Night Live on March 11, Wednesday star Jenna Ortega reluctantly joined SNL cast members in recreating the dance made famous by her gloomy character for a show promo. But in a new interview with U.K. newspaper the Times, the Scream VI star, who choreographed the dance, admitted that she hasn't re-watched scene from her Netflix show, which went viral thanks to TikTok. In fact, she finds the fuss over it "disorientating."
"When they were telling me [it was going viral] I was trying to seem uplifted about it, like, ‘Oh, wow!’" Ortega, 20, told the outlet. "But mentally, in my head, I was hoping people wouldn’t pay so much attention to that part. It’s disorientating. I don’t think people are naturally designed to have that many eyes on them.”
Ortega explained that as a perfectionist, she's constantly "mentally tweaking and adjusting and fixing things in my head: what I should have done, what could have been better." As such, she tries to avoid watching her work.
"Some actors watch their work like game-day footage, like they’re athletes," she said. "I completely understand, but I really can’t. If I have to go to a screening of something I did, which is very rare, a lot of the times I’ll say, ‘Mmmm, no,’ but if I do I try to go to the bathroom as many times as possible, or I’ll randomly take a phone call, like, I have to get out.”
And while she's grateful for the success of Wednesday, in which she plays morbid teen Wednesday Addams, Ortega learned early on that fame can be "a bit off-putting" at times.
“I used to do a Disney show when I was younger," the former Stuck in the Middle star said. "I was a little bit of a public figure, used to get recognized, or whatever. When I look back, I think I was so out of place. I didn’t understand where I was … and you start to see Hollywood for the first time, and it’s a bit intimidating, a bit off-putting … I felt like I was a people’s princess. I didn’t really feel like myself. Then it started to slow down and I lived a pretty normal life … "
Ortega added that acting is "a really weird job" when it comes to having a love life, something the single star says doesn't "even really consider."
"I don’t know," she responded when asked about dating. "I’m definitely more of a work person. I mean, some people figure it out, but I’m not really in a place where … I don’t know. It doesn’t really have anything to do with my work.”